A Pain Worse Than Dying
by Tsarsilver
Summary: Dean knew that he couldn't keep Castiel a secret from the newly raised John forever. But what he doesn't know is that this secret will hurt the ones he loves the most. Destiel and hints of Sabriel. Rated M for mentions of torture and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note-**I do not own supernatural, but oh how I wished I did.

**Warnings-** Torture and Dean/Castiel and Sam/Gabriel. Also I might of made John a complete dick in this story. So don't like it, don't read it.

" Cassssss." Dean lazily called out upon finding that the space next to him which should have been filled with one sleepy angel was sadly empty. He turned over to the other side of the bed where his alarm clock was rudely blaring that it was the ungodly hour of five in the morning. Groaning, Dean pushed the warm blankets off his body and set off to find Castiel. He just hoped he was still in Bobby's house. He had made Cas promise when they first started off their relationship that he would no longer just randomly wing-off to wherever without telling Dean. That had been a year ago. How their relationship had started, neither of them really knew. Just after years of passionately starring at each other from across the room, which Dean stills denies he ever did, they went on a date. That one date turned into two, then three, and eventually Sam just had to get his own room at motels to leave the happy couple to their own devices. Now they were all relaxing at Bobby's house, with all things supernatural being quiet lately.

Dean silently made the trek down the stairs, contemplating whether he should just pray to his angel and ask where the crap he was, when he heard a noise. This wasn't a normal noise that came with the sun rising and the world waking up, this was someone trying to be stealthy, and failing miserably in Deans opinion. His natural hunter instincts kicked in and he now cautiously stalked through the house, keeping his steps close to the walls to stop the insisting creaking that came with Bobby's old floors. All the while side-stepping the piles of books which were hap-haphazardly stacked upon the carpet.

Getting closer, Dean knew that the noises were coming from the kitchen. The shuffling of old boots, the faucet turning on and even the sound of metal on metal as someone unsheathed a weapon. This last noise confirmed that whoever was in the kitchen was certainly not Castiel. Right outside the room, Dean silently took out his gun and cocked it, fully prepared to shoot whoever was foolish enough to break into this house. In one quick, fluid motion he stepped out from his hiding place and into the kitchen, gun quickly finding out the single head slightly leaning over the sink. But as soon as Dean's eyes caught up to his hands, he lowered his weapon.

"Dad, what the hell?! I almost just shot you in the head!" Dean said in a fierce whisper even though he wasn't truly angry. Not a month ago, finding his dad in Bobby's kitchen in the early hours of the morning would have called for screaming, holy water, some yelling, a silver knife, a pinch of salt, even more yelling and a punch or two, seeing that his father was dead and rotting in hell after selling his soul. But three weeks ago, John had just shown up at their door, covered in dirt, confused, but overall happy to see his sons. His sons however, didn't quite share his enthusiasm and quickly did all things previously mentioned to make sure their dad wasn't one of the things that went bump in the night. And to everyone's surprise he wasn't. The man that stood before them was a hundred percent John Winchester, newly dragged up from the pits of hell.

Dean had asked Castiel later why his father had been saved from the hell, and Cas had just done one of his adorable half-corner smiles and said that there was new management upstairs that had been convinced by one anonymous angel that the they had caused the Winchesters so much trouble and made their lives pure shit that bringing back their father would be some sort of retribution. And when Dean asked just who this "anonymous angel" was, his boyfriend had insisted he had no clue, but then again, Cas had always been a terrible liar.

But the details didn't really matter, what mattered was that their Dad was back. Both Winchesters weren't ashamed to say that there had been a lot of hugging and single manly tears at their reunion. Even Bobby gave John a hug and called him an idjit, which everyone knew is his signature sign of affection. But to the boy's disappointment, as soon as he came, he left. Saying that after years of being stuck down below, he needed to kill something and get back into the swing of things. So after just an hour of talking with his sons, John had packed up some weapons, fake ID's, a few books, and got a car from Bobby's lot and just left on a hunt. Simply saying he'd be back in a month.

It took three days and a lot of manly cuddling with Castiel for Dean to stop openly brooding around the house, complaining that this was just like when they were kids when their father would leave his two children in some crap motel room while John hunted whatever monster was plaguing the random backwater town they were in. Sam took the more subtle approach of saying everything was fine while keeping his true emotions locked deep within himself. Luckily he had an angel boyfriend of his own who saw right through his facade and wouldn't rest until Sam was happy again. But now after three weeks, their dad was back and cleaning off some blood from his knife and coat in the kitchen like he had never left.

His dad turned from his position over the sink towards his son and slightly smiled, "Dean, sorry, didn't mean to freak you out, the hunt in Florida took less time than I thought. I only got back at one last night."

This immediately made Dean's warning system go up. If his dad had gotten back at one last night, why only now, four hours later, was he methodically cleaning his knife and coat. But from years of experience Dean knew not to pry into his dad's secrets. He always had a reason for doing things and honestly, Dean didn't want to know what those were this early with no coffee in system. That's when he remembered his own reason for getting out of bed that morning in the first place. To find Cas. " Hey dad, you haven't happened to have seen a guy around here have you? Black hair, blue eyes, about this high," Dean said as he put his hand at about eye level, " Most likely wearing a trench coat."

Now Dean had some justification for not just saying, " Hey dad, have you seen Castiel?" That being that his dad hadn't quite met Cas yet, nor did he know that he existed. So by that logic, John was also unaware that his son was dating the angel. Which again, Dean felt completely justified for keeping his father in the dark about. He and Sam had only one hour to tell their dad everything that happened while he was gone. They had said the important stuff, Sam dying, Dean selling his soul, him going to hell, Dean coming back from hell, the demon blood (although Sam was reluctant on that one) Sam starting the apocalypse (Again, very reluctant to reveal that little piece of info), Lucifer, the angels, them being the vessels, Sam also ending the apocalypse, the list goes on. But no where in that conversation could Dean bring himself to say that, not only was he gay, but was dating a celestial being the size of the Chrysler building. How pathetic was he? He could behead monsters without even flinching, but he was to afraid to come out of the closet to his own dad. But he was going to tell him. . . Eventually. Either when he was in a really good mood, preferably after a hunt with a beer in his hands, or Dean was just going to wait until Sam fessed up to John that he was in a relationship with the Archangel Gabriel.

Oh god, their family was messed up.

John had paused for a minute after Dean's question, just silently cleaning his stained blade until finally he broke the silence, " Yeah, we had a nice long chat before you came down." While he was talking, his father's voice hadn't wavered in the slightest, he had even kept the same tone of voice that Dean just couldn't quite place. His first thought was that Cas had told his dad about their relationship and his dad had gotten angry at the angel, so Castiel had flown off. It would explain John's odd tone and Castiel's disappearance. But then again he had asked Cas not to tell his dad about them if they ever met. Which, truth be told, Dean was really hoping he could hold out on the whole, "meeting the parents thing" with Castiel for as long as possible. Which had actually upset the angel a tad bit, but nevertheless, Cas had still sworn that he wouldn't alert his father of them and Dean didn't really think he would break that promise.

" Okay . . . So do you know where he is now?" Dean said, trying to keep any amount of annoyance he had out of his voice. This time it was John's turn to tense up, and Dean really thought that his dad might just ignore the question and pop out a beer despite how early it was.

" In the basement." Was all his dad said. Dean let his eyebrows slightly furrow as he turned directly towards his father. Why the crap was Cas in the basement? They had no cases to work on, so it wasn't for research and it certainly wasn't just for the heck of it. Maybe he was upset or had a nightmare. Even though he was a fallen angel of the lord, Castiel still got to keep his wings and a tiny bit of advanced healing. But this still didn't stop silly little mortal things like nightmares from affecting the angel. Dean still sometimes woke up to Castiel screaming and withering in his sleep. Desperately trying to fight off the invisible monsters that attacked him. Usually after that, Cas would wake up and simply wrap himself around Dean, seeking out comfort that he would have never asked for aloud. With this in mind, Dean set off for the basement, fully intent on finding and comforting his angel. He hadn't even taken three full steps before someone had grabbed his arm.

"Where are you going?" It was his dad, and he had slipped and let some emotion leak into his words. That emotion was clearer this time, and Dean could automatically recognize it as anger.

Dean jerked his arm out of his fathers grasp, " Im going down to lollypop land to party with some munchkins! Maybe fuck a witch or two! What does it look like, I'm going down to the basement!" Dean knew that he shouldn't talk to his dad like this, and before he would have never talked back to his father in such a way. But he was older now, he had gone through so much shit with just Sammy to look out for, that his dad treating him like he controlled him again just struck a nerve.

What happened next shocked him, he was expecting yelling, maybe even a slap if he was in a particularly foul mood, but his dad's face just slightly softened if anything, "Look Dean," His dad said as he put a light hand on his shoulder, " I know you think that you've gotten over hell, and that it wont affect you anymore. But I think doing this might resurface some old memories that you really don't want to come up again. And I should know." By this point Dean's face just showed how confused he really was, but John kept on going. " And I know you were one of the best at . . . causing pain down in hell and yeah, you probably could get all the information we need. But I don't want you to go through it all again. So while this is all going on, I want you to not go see it in the basement. You just stay up here while I interrogate the angel."

Dean's mind just went utterly blank for a few moments while he tried to process all his dad had said. Not go see it . . . get all the information we need . . . while I interrogate the angel . . . Then something in his brain just snapped all the pieces of this sick and twisted puzzle together and Dean's veins suddenly felt as if the blood had been replaced with ice. No, Dean thought, the pain was worse than that. It was more like his veins had been ripped out from his body completely, taking his heart along with is. "NO!" Dean couldn't help but scream. He flew out of his fathers grasp and ran towards the basement door knocking over books as he went. He could hear his dad yelling after him, but at that point, Dean couldn't give a damn. " CAS!" He began yelling, knowing fully well that everyone would hear his screaming. Good. Let them hear. Let them know what John had done.

Getting to the basement door, he found it locked. It took no more than five seconds for Dean to kick the door down, letting the fragmented pieces rain down onto the steps below like fire from the heavens. Still screaming Castiel's name, he leapt down the stairs three or four at a time. Looking around he found the basement void of all life. Where was he?! Oh god where was Cas?! Dean's breathing began to come out in short, panicked huffs. No, he needed to find him. If his dad had truly done what Dean thought he had done, Cas needed him. His angel needed him.

That's when he finally noticed the sigil on the panic room's heavy iron door. Racing over, Dean reached down for his pocket knife to break the seal, but found it gone, still upstairs from where he had left it yesterday. So with adrenaline pumping through his veins, he scratched at the seal with his fingernails, letting them break and bleed as the blood slowly ran down his palms, but Dean's mind was so preoccupied with saving Castiel, he didn't notice and he just flung the heavy door open. The first thing that struck him was the smell. It was the thick, sour smell of holy oil. And it was everywhere. It was so strong that it clouded his senses as it invaded his nostrils, making him a bit dizzy. Stepping into the eerie metal room, which was now as black as a demon's eyes, he heard a soft moan, so soft, that most wouldn't even be able to hear it. Panicking, Dean began to frantically search for the light switch along the surface of the wall. Finally reaching it, he flipped it on. The sight that met Dean's eyes made him want to cry.

In the center of the room was Castiel bound to a chair with iron chains. His trench coat was not on his body, but instead on a bloody heap on the floor. His once white pajama shirt now had slash marks running all along the sleeves and abdomen. Dark red seeping through from the cuts underneath. It was then Dean realized that the smell of Holy Oil was actually coming from the angel himself. Some of the liquid still slid down the angel's face and mixed with his blood before dripping onto the ever-growing murky puddle on the floor with an ominous splash. It looked as if someone had just dunked him in the stuff without setting light to it. No, not someone, Dean thought angrily, his dad, his own fucking father had done this to Castiel!

Dean almost wished that Castiel would just pop up from the chair smiling, asking him if he had done a proper practical joke. Actually, Dean wished anything at this point. Anything. Just anything that meant that his angel wasn't really bloody and broken, tied to a chair, to weak to even lift his own head.

Now Dean stepped closer to Cas, very tentatively, as if approaching a wounded animal. But the angel could not see his movements as a blindfold had been roughly placed over his eyes, just barley showing the bruises forming on the skin below. That's when Dean dumped the wounded animal routine and ran over to Castiel. The first thing he did was untie the bloody blindfold from around his eyes. Dean could feel his heart breaking when Cas slightly flinched back at the touch. But as soon as the cover had been thrown aside, Dean lightly took the angel's chin in his hands and tilted it up to meet Dean's gaze. Around each eye was a bruise which was a ghastly shade of purple, and both lids were nearly swollen shut, with only a hint of his true vast orbs which were like the color of the deep ocean showing through.

Through these narrow openings, Castiel could apparently see Dean, for he let a trace of a smile show on his battered and cut lips. " H-hello . . De . . ." Was all Castiel could choke out before Dean lightly shushed him. Leaving a feather-light kiss on Castiel's forehead, Dean began to undo the chains that bound his angel. He noticed that these were no regular chains, each link having enochian symbols carved into them. It sickened Dean when he finally got the restraints off and he saw that wherever the metal had touched the angel's flesh, it had left angry, red burns, as if they were still hot from the fire that forged them. Looking over his tortured boyfriend, Dean let one tear fall from his eye. He had let this happen. If he hadn't been such a baby and told his dad about Castiel then he would have never done this. Would have never sat here for hours upon hours carving him up like some piece of meat for information he didn't have. It was _all_ his fault. It was _all_ his fault. It was _all_ his fault. It was _all_ his fault . . . Stop it! Dean silently scolded himself. This was no time for a fucking pity-party! He needed to help Cas. So with no other thought than his angel, Dean gingerly picked him up Bridal-style and made his way out the door. All the while whispering soothing words into his ear. "It's going to be alright. No one's going to touch you. I'm going to fix you up. I will never let anything harm you. I love you."

Now finally out of the panic room, Dean started to slowly carry Cas up the stairs, making sure nothing hit his already battered head. Not two steps up, a shadow fell upon the pair. Gazing upwards, Dean saw the last person in the world he wanted to see at that moment. John Winchester. As if Cas could sense his torturer's presence, he burrowed his head deeper into Deans shirt like a frightened child would. Now if Dean hadn't had a broken angel cradled protectively in his arms, he would have marched straight up those steps to where John was standing in the doorway and punched him square in the jaw and would have then proceeded to drag his sorry ass down to the panic room and do every single thing he had had done to Castiel twice over. But right now, that wasn't an option.

Dean saw that his father was not going to remove himself from the doorway, successfully blocking his and Castiel's path. Dean also saw how his father's face was distorted by a mix of rage and confusion. " Dad, move." But this demand hadn't come from Dean's lips. Standing in the doorway behind John was a six foot, four inch younger brother, who was just about ready to push John down the stairs himself. Sam looked down on them, confused at first, but he somehow understood what was going on. "I'm not going to say it again, move or I'll make you move." It was at this point Dean was thankful he had such a kick-ass little brother, for the prideful John Winchester actually listened and stepped aside. Now that his path was open again, the hunter began to make his way up the stairs, not even glancing at his father as he passed. Castiel was still pressed up to Dean's body, his fingers almost painfully clutching onto his shoulder. His wounds were now leaving a slight trail of blood wherever they went and was even causing the material of Dean's shirt to turn a pale red in some places, but all he did was hold him closer, vowing to never let go of his angel.

Dean passed by Sam on his way to the stairs that led up to his and Cas's bedroom, " Thanks Sam, I'm gonna go take care of him. But I'll be down soon." Dean said to Sam, trying to keep his voice calm for that was the only thing he could do besides scream. The younger Winchester just nodded. Then Dean walked up the stairs, still holding the damaged angel, fully intending on stitching up what he could, running Cas a bath, and then coming back downstairs to make his father pray he had never been raised from hell.

Now with Dean caring for Castiel upstairs, Sam was left alone with their dad. For the first few minutes they just let the silence fester and fill the space with hostility. But then Sam could not take it any longer, "What the hell dad?!" Sam shouted, finally letting his emotions pour out of him in one go.

When John turned to him he was equally furious, "Don't you dare talk to me like that!"

Sam didn't even skip a beat with his reply, "I'll talk to you however I damn well please. Now tell me, what the hell happened once you got back last night!" By the end, the youngest Winchester was seething. Even though Castiel was Dean's boyfriend, Sam still saw him as a good friend, and he wasn't going to sit by and watch him get hurt.

Sam watched as his dad angrily turned around, red in the face, " I think it should be you telling _me _what the hell is going on around here!" But that's when John saw his son's face, it was pure rage. His normal blue eyes were now more like shards of sea green glass, ready to stab whomever they please without mercy. So with a sigh he caved. "I had just gotten back from that Muck-monster hunt in Florida. It was about one in the morning, so I tried to be quiet and not wake anyone. Thats when I heard a noise from the kitchen. And when I went to see what is was, I found that thing in their." San wanted to strike his dad for the use of the word, thing. "Now at first I thought someone had broken in, but then along the back wall was a pair of shadows. But they weren't just regular shadows, they bended and contorted with the light, each one was black and far darker than a regular shadow should be. They were wings! That thing is an angel Sammy!"

Honestly at that moment Sam was so close to just saying, "No shit, Sherlock!" but he kept his mouth closed and let his dad continue with the story.

"So at that point I went and found where Bobby kept the holy oil. And when I came back, the thing still hadn't even noticed I was there! It's actually pretty stupid for an angel." If only John had seen his son's knuckles clench and turn white, maybe he would have stopped, but he didn't. " So then I snuck up behind it and dumped all the holy oil on the thing. Because, while trapping them in holy fire works, if you just cover them in it, it makes them powerless and very weak." His dad said as if Sam was a kid again and he was teaching him how to hunt a monster. It made him feel sick.

" Then I just wrapped it up in these chains that I have where each link is covered in different symbols to leave angels unable to escape just incase they regain some of their power, it also burns them which made getting information out of it that much easier when I dragged it down to the-" John couldn't finish his sentence before Sam had interrupted him.

"Stop. Just stop. How do you know all this?! The holy oil, the chains, the symbols, everything. You didn't even believe in angels before you died and now you're some sort of pro at capturing them?" Sam said, half talking, half-yelling.

Sam noticed how his father's gaze went slightly downcast at this question, and he even let out a tiny sigh before answering. "I was in hell for a long time Sammy, longer than you can imagine. When you're down there for so long you hear things. The demons were in a war against the angels, they were almost always talking about how to capture them, how to kill them, how to make them scream and beg . . ." This time he wasn't interrupted, but instead just stopped talking.

Sam almost began to pity his father. Almost. But then he remembered that he had just been torturing the angel for hours for absolutely no reason. And the pity went away and was replaced with hatred. " So what? The demons fed you enough propaganda about the angels that you decided to torture one in the basement?!" Sam yelled. His father was about to answer but Sam was far from finished, " What information were you even torturing him for?! What could he possibly know that you wanted to find out so badly to beat him like that? What the hell did you do it for?!"

Now John looked at Sam with anger in his eyes, " What did I do it for?! I did it to protect you and Dean!" This caused Sam's emotions to go from rage to confusion, and he obviously showed it on his face. " Tell me Sam, why do you think the angels brought me back?! Hm, do you think they did it just to be nice?! They are all self-serving bastards! This is probably all a part of some plan of theirs! Weren't you the one to tell me about Zachariah, Raphael and Michel? How they used you and your brother for their own gains?! As soon as they pulled me up I knew something was going on! I thought you and Dean were against the angels too! Thats why when he asked about that thing I thought he wanted to make it squeal himself! But turns out he pities it!"

By this point Sam felt like a kid again, being yelled at for something his father couldn't even hope to understand. But he wasn't some helpless child now, he could stand up for himself and his friend, " Dad, not all angels are bad! You just went and tortured one of the only angels who is actually good!"

John was not an inch away from Sam's face, " You wanna tell me that this _thing_ is here to help you! Oh so It's just a coincidence that not a month after I was raised that an angel is in here stalking around the kitchen! It's a spy Sam! It's only here to make sure that we follow through with whatever they want like little puppets!"

"Him." Was all Sam said in response. This caused his dad to take a step back and look at him slightly confused.

"What?"

"I said him. He is not an it. And his name is Castiel. And Castiel is certainly not a spy or whatever you want to call him. He's Dean's boyfriend." There, Sam had said it. He did feel a tad bit guilty for basically shoving Dean out of the closet, but for his dad to understand, it needed to be said. And honestly, the amount of pure unfiltered shock on John's face kinda made up for it.

His dad stared at him for a few seconds before setting his mouth into a hard frown. "Dean's not gay. I know my son, and he's not gay." Sam almost wanted to throw something at his father's thick head at that point. And by almost, it was more like, Sam picked up something and was about to overhand at the target which is John Winchester's head. When he realized he was holding Bobby's favorite lamp, so he set it down.

" Dad, come on, you've been gone for a really long while. And I know thats not your fault, but Dean and I have changed. We're not who you remember us to be." Sam said trying to calm himself down.

"It doesn't matter how long I've been gone! I know Dean, and there is one thing I know for sure. He. Is. Not. Gay. And even if he was, he would definitely not be dating some freak with wings!"

And with that sentence, all attempts to be calm packed up and headed south, for all Sam could imagine during his father's rant was Gabriel. " You know nothing! Tell me dad, do you know who Lisa was? Hm, go on, if you know everything about Dean then you must know who Lisa was, right?!"

" I don't know, some one night stand Dean had! I didn't say I was a damn psychic! I would just know if my son wanted to fuck a guy! And You know what else I know?!" John practically screamed, glaring at Sam, "I know that Dean wouldn't be this pathetic and feel sorry for that angel if he hadn't sold his soul and went to hell because you were too stupid as to not get your worthless ass killed! " John yelled, completely ignoring the look of deep pain in Sam's eyes.

" How can you not see that this thing is using you!? It's toying with both of your emotions to get what it wants! And may I say it doesn't really have a tough job. You always let your emotions get in the way of every single fucking thing! This is why you were never a good hunter, to many damn feelings crammed up in your head!" John yelled, getting back into the same fights that he and his son would get into nearly every week back in the day.

" And now," His dad continued, "Dean's just like you too. And the angel can see that! You know while I was trying to get it to tell me why it was here it kept using the same excuse. 'I'm here for Dean. I want to protect Dean. I'm here because I love Dean" As if I would believe that! Angels don't have emotions! He even tried to call out to Dean for help." John then proceeded to do a mocking imitation of Castiel screaming out for Dean to save him.

Sam just felt numb. This was his childhood all over again, but worse in every way imaginable. He couldn't even bring his fists up to strike his dad as if they were weighed down. But it turns out he didn't have to, for right then, a figure came hurtling down the stairs like a bat out of hell towards the two and tackled John to the ground. Sam stood in shock as Dean pinned their dad to the hardwood floor and began to punch him in the face, over and over again. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Dean screeched as his fists connected with their dad's face, which was now becoming increasingly more bloody.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Bobby yelled. Everyone stopped mid-motion. No one had seen or even heard Bobby come in from his night out at the town's local bar, and the position they were in didn't look good from any viewpoint. Dean's fists were mere inches away from his father's face and he honestly looked like he was going to ignore Bobby and continue to beat John senseless. But some form of higher thinking stopped him and he lowered his bloody knuckles, but he made it quite clear through his actions that he was not going remove himself from his father. "I'm gonna ask one more time so one of you idjits better start talking. What the hell is going on?"

It was Sam who was the first to speak, " Well, um . . . Our dad, he . . . he kinda tortured Castiel in the basement . . ." With this reminder Dean punched John in the face yet again.

Bobby's face went from shocked, to confused, to disbelief, to anger, all in the span of ten seconds, and on any other day, this would have been comical. But on this early morning, no one was laughing. "What in god's name made you do that?" Was all Bobby could manage. Dean and Sam have always been like sons to him, and now Castiel was apart of that family too. The thought that he had been tortured in his own goddamn basement made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Because it's a fucking angel and it cant be trusted that's why!" John spat out, his menacing words mixed with blood. This promptly earned him another hard hit to the face from Dean. Now if what Sam said was true, Bobby had no problem with Dean beating the daylights out of John Winchester, god knows he had done it a couple of times. But the look in the kid's eye, Bobby had never seen it before, this was the look of someone who had no boundaries, no regrets, someone who would never look back. Not even for doing something like killing his own blood.

"Boy, I know what your dad did was wrong, hell, it was more than wrong, and while I don't have all the facts just yet, I do know that if you keep hitting him like that you're gonna kill the man!"

"That's what I'm going for here Bobby. Gonna send his ass straight back to hell where it belongs!" It kinda unnerved the old hunter how serious Dean was at this point.

That's when Sam decided it was best to step in. " Guys, why doesn't everybody just calm down? Okay, now Dean, you go upstairs and check on Cas while I fill Bobby in on everything that has happened," If Sam noticed the death glare his brother gave him at that moment he pretended not to notice. "Dad, you go bandage yourself up in the kitchen." This wasn't a request, this was an order. An order that John Winchester would be foolish not to follow.

Without a word, Dean stood, begrudgingly letting his father up from his position on the ground, but he was certainly not going to help the man up. His dad could roll on his back like a pathetic bug all day for what Dean cared. Slowly John got up and headed straight for the kitchen. Sam just gave a solemn look to Dean and parted on his own way with Bobby.

Dean himself wasted no time in rushing up the stairs to the bedroom that he shared with Cas. Getting to the door, his first instinct was to just throw it open, but after taking into consideration all that his boyfriend had gone through in the previous hours, Dean guessed that he would not be up for any surprises. So with an uncharacteristically gentle knock, he cracked the door open.

Castiel was just laying on the bed, looking like he was sleeping, but with his eye's swollen like that, Dean couldn't really tell at that point. He was clean now, and all the holy oil and blood had been washed down the drain. Even so, Dean could still clearly see Cas's hair plastered down by the horrible mixture in his head. Shaking the image out of his mind, Dean wondered whether he should just leave him to rest. Then the angel slightly shifted on the bed towards the door,"Ah, hello Dean." Taking this as all the invitation he needed, Dean strode over to the opposite side of the bed Cas was on and laid down so close to the angel that their knees were almost touching.

"Hey, Cas." Dean said gently, "So . . . How are you feeling?" Dean wanted to slap himself at his own question. How was he feeling? The guy had just been tortured in the basement for the last four hours! He probably wasn't feeling very merry. But Dean didn't have to worry about the stupidity of his own mind, for Castiel completely ignored the question. Something that Dean duly noted.

" In previous weeks, when I would imagine how the introducing of myself to your father would go. I will admit, this was not one of the scenarios that I came up with." Castiel said, his voice terribly hoarse.

The hunter just rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, trust me. I certainly didn't see this one coming either."

"You know, it seems that almost all my first introductions with you Winchesters are quite unconventional."

Dean slightly looked up, "What do you mean?"

"Well, technically the first time we met was when I was raising you from perdition. But I do not like to count that moment. Seeing that you do not remember my rescue and you were on fire . . ." Dean slightly smiled at Castiel's attempt at a joke although there was no real joy behind it. He wouldn't deny it was a pretty awful joke. But it at least meant that Castiel was already slightly getting over this morning's events. "And the second time we came across each other, you stabbed me in the heart promptly after shooting me seven times in the chest." There was no malice in his words. If anything, Castiel was remembering their "first" meeting with great fondness.

Chuckling slightly Dean took Cas's hand in his own, "Yeah, sorry bout that. You just looked like the freaking terminator or something with the wind and the sparks flying everywhere." They probably could have sat there for hours reminiscing on the good times they had, but at that moment a large crash was heard from downstairs followed by the sound of yelling.

"Well that's my cue. I'll be back as soon as possible, kay Cas?" Dean said with a sigh while getting up from his comfy position on the mattress and walking over to the door.

"Dean . . ." Cas faintly called out. " I am . . . sorry I have caused this. If I had know my presence here would cause so much turmoil between you and your father, I would have never-" Castiel said, tilting his head down in what Dean took as shame or guilt.

Dean almost wanted to get angry. "Castiel no. Don't you dare blame yourself. Do you hear me? Don't you dare. This is not your fault. This is my dad being the biggest dick this side of the galaxy." By this point, Dean had strode back over to the bed, but Castiel was refusing to look him in the eye.

"Hey, look at me." Dean said softer this time. " Hey c'mon, look at me. Please baby?" At the use of the rare nickname that Castiel coveted, he finally raised his head. "I need you to get this through that head of yours. None of this is you're fault. Now I'm going to go deal with one major dick downstairs. But I'll be back before you can say apple pie."

"Apple Pie."

This time Dean's smile was genuine, " Okay so you might have to say it a bit slower than that. And speaking of which, we are so getting some pie later." With a final kiss Dean left the angel laying on the bed as he walked downstairs to find the screaming trio. All Dean had to do to find the three other hunters was follow the sound of yelling.

"How much of a dumb-ass must you be to think that he was a threat?!" Well there was Bobby.

" Don't you tell me that you wouldn't have done the same thing if you had come back to a random angel in the kitchen!" And there was his dad.

" Yeah I would have probably attacked him, but I wouldn't have tortured an angel in the basement! What was he even doing when you found him?"

"Well . . . he was eating a burger."

"Oh so you beat him up because you thought he was the goddamn Hambugular? Well that makes everything ok doesn't it?!"

Dean would have been completely content with watching the two old hunters battle it out in the kitchen on another day, but today, he needed to get down to business. "Dad." Dean said, his voice cutting through the noise, causing everyone to stop arguing. "You need to leave."

"What do you mean, I need to leave?"

"I mean," Dean said, stepping closer to his father menacingly, "You need to get the fuck out of here. Right now." There wasn't a hint of a joke in his voice.

John was expecting Sam or at least Bobby to come to his defense. But both hunters just stood there silently glaring daggers his way. " Look Dean, it was a misunderstanding I-"

Dean didn't even let his father finish his sentence before going off at him."No dad, a misunderstanding is bringing someone potato soup when they asked for tomato. That's a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding isn't water-boarding an angel in the basement with holy oil for fucks-sake!"

John just stood there watching the son who used to follow his every order without a moments hesitation, now disregarding everything he said.

Being the peacekeeper that he was Sam stepped in. "Look, we're not saying you need to leave for good. But until everything here's sorted out and Castiel feels comfortable with you being around, I don't think you to come around here." Even though some of Sam's words were less aggressive, he still kept a tone of hatred when talking to his dad.

John just nodded. He might be the infamous hard-headed John Winchester, but he didn't want to loose his sons. Not again. And though he still thought that all the angels were worthless filth, he would pretend for Dean's sake that he didn't despise the winged bastards. Well, for now that was.

"You should just be glad Gabriel wasn't here." John turned towards the sound of his youngest son's voice.

"Yeah, and whose that?"

This time Dean answered. "You've probably heard of him. Known as the Archangel Gabriel to all of heaven, but down here, we just like to call him Sammy's boyfriend." At the mention of Gabriel, Sam let a heavy blush fall onto his cheeks as he smiled. John just let his bruised mouth fall slightly open at the fact that not one, but both of his sons were not only gay, but were dating angels. "Yeah, he's also Castiel's brother. Funny thing about Gabriel. He's _very_ protective of his little brother and his boyfriend. And it seems to me like you've done some damage to both of them today." Whistling Dean walked over to Sam, "Do you remember what Gabe did to us when he liked us? Imagine what he'd do to someone he despised."

John looked at both his sons. Sam was still smiling like a schoolgirl at the thought of his angel and Dean, well Dean just had a smirk on his face which just screamed that he wouldn't mind in the slightest if the archangel turned his father's organs into puppets. Slightly fearing the powerful archangel (and his son) their dad whipped out the last option he could to preserve his own life "I want to go apologize." This statement made everyone spin around to John in shock.

"You. You of all people want to apologize?" Sam asked, incredulous that his father would ever be sorry for anything.

"Yeah John, I've seen you shoot a man and never mutter an apology. But now you wanna go hug it out with an angel upstairs?" Bobby said, equally confused.

"Yeah, I want to say sorry to . . . Casorel."

"His name is _Castiel_, and you're not going within three miles of him." Dean spat.

John was starting to get exasperated, " Fine, Castiel. But look, I'm trying to do some good here, let me go and say sorry to-"

"Do you honestly think apologizing to him will do you a shred of good?! I saw Cas's wounds. I saw what you did. Slashing, stabbing, burning, branding, nearly drowning him in holy oil! You did all that stuff as he begged you to stop and you think going up there and giving him some half-hearted sorry will make anything better!"

" You may not understand," John said as he began to walk towards the stairs, "But I am going to go apologize right now." But his father never got to the stairs, for Dean grabbed him by the back of his neck and spun him around so that there faces were nearly touching. " You listen to me, you sorry son of a bitch." Dean whispered furiously, " If you go up those stairs, I will not hesitate to shoot you. Got that?" With that the hunter let go and stepped back from his father, watching as every hate-filled word sunk into his dad's head.

Castiel chose that exact moment to walk down the stairs. It all went downhill from there.

"Oh . . .I'm sorry Dean, I thought you were all in the living room. I-I'll go back to our room now . . ." Castiel said as he began to hobble back up the stairs, making sure to never look at John.

"Hey wait. You get back here!" Their dad yelled after Cas. He then began to fast-walk over to the stairs. Big mistake on his part. John suddenly felt the familiar feeling of being yanked back by his collar. Not a moment after, he was pinned up against a wall with a Colt 1911 A1 .45 pressed up against his temple.

"If you thought I was kidding about shooting you. You were wrong." Dean was not messing about, the gun was fully loaded and cocked. Ready to fire its contents into the soft brain matter of a body.

Bobby and Sam weren't sure if they should intervene. No one wanted Dean to shoot his father, but then again, no one knew if he really would. Castiel just stood at the bottom of the stairs, wishing that he had never gotten out of bed last night and hoping that his hunter wouldn't get hurt.

With a sneer and a death wish their father looked at dean and spoke, "So this is how its gonna be, huh? You picking some angel that you fuck around with beneath the sheets over your own father."

Dean stepped back slightly, and John had a fleeting hope that he had somehow won. Somehow gotten through to Dean's sense of loyalty and would now watch as his son kicked that abomination out of the house. But Dean just smiled. "No, I've chosen the man that I love over a dick of a father who was never around. And let me tell you, you made the decision far to easy."

And then Bobby watched as John Winchester's own two son's kicked their father out of the house. Not even looking back as they slammed the door in his face.

As soon as the door slammed shut, Dean felt exhausted. And it was only six in the morning. An hour, Dean thought. Had this really all gone down over the span of just one measly hour. He didn't want to dwell on it too much, so he just quickly raced off to the kitchen and grabbed an apple pie from the pantry. Running back, Castiel hadn't moved from the bottom of the steps and Bobby and Sam had already snuck of to their own respective rooms.

Lightly grabbing Cas's hand, Dean led him up to their bedroom. Once there, he set the pie down on the nightstand next to the bed and lovingly tucked the angel in under the covers, quickly following him into the warmth. Now cuddling up against his boyfriend, with one arm wrapped protectively around his midsection, Dean let out a sigh of relief that he didn't know how long he had been holding in.

"Dean?" Castiel quietly called out, making the hunter ready for a recap of their early events.

"Yeah Cas?"

"I love you."

"I love you too." The hunter and his angel stayed like that until the nightfall. Simply relishing the time they had together.

**Final Note-** Thank you so much for reading my story! Rate and review of you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

**NOTE-** I own nothing. All characters belong to there respectful owners.

**ANOTHER NOTE-** Yes I know it's been more than two months since I posted this fic and I'm only updating it now. The main reason for the update is my best friend has been threatening me all summer to finally post the second chapter, these threats ranged from death to not speaking to me. So here ya go sparkly new chapter.

Dean didn't know wether he should move or not. On one hand, he had a very warm and equally sleepy angel cuddled against his chest. On the other, he hadn't really gotten up in the past five hours. Thinking about it though, Dean supposed he and Cas deserved to lay in as much as they wanted considering the events that had taken place that very morning. Well, it was more like Castiel deserved it. Dean knew that the bruises wouldn't fade for weeks. The slash marks covering his skin were a different story, he didn't even want to mention the broken fingers.

Looking down upon his angel, Dean noticed the once white dressing that he had used to bandage Castiel's wounds were now revealing the stark red underneath. Well that was reason enough to get up. Now how to go about waking up Cas. Even on his best days, his boyfriend was as far away from a morning person as they got, and today of all days was certainly not his best, never mind that it wasn't even morning.

This called for special procedure.

Dean placed a chaste kiss on Castiel's forehead, followed by one on his cheek. However the former angel didn't even twitch. But Dean couldn't have that, could he? His attack now spread out to wherever his lips could reach, covering Castiel's face in a flurry of light kisses. This time Cas reacted with a slight grumble and wiggled closer to the warm body next to him. "Dean . . ." But it came out muffled as Castiel's face was pressed into Dean's side to escape the kisses.

Dean was tempted to give up his attack then and there just to let his angel sleep, but the blood soaked rags were staring him right in the face. "Come on Cas, we have to get up now." Dean insisted as he attempted to get up, only to be held down by the weight on his chest.

This time Castiel removed his face from the fabric of the cotton shirt to speak. "I disagree."

"Yes we do. We both need to eat and you-"

"We still have the pie" Cas interjected

Dean sighed, this was becoming harder than he expected. " No, we finished that a few hours ago, remember?" All he got as a reply was Castiel looking over to the empty pie container on the nightstand and shrugging. " So as I was saying, we need food and I need to change your dressing."

Again no reply, just Cas gazing at the red slowly seeping out of his wounds and past the bandages. This was worrying. "Castiel-". Immediately the former rose from the bed and stood up, only slightly shaky from the sudden rise.

"Shall we go then?" Castiel asked with a comforting smile on his face. Dean nodded and smiled back, and stood up and took Castiel's hand in his own, the one that didn't have the three broken fingers.

Once they got downstairs they found Sam sprawled unceremoniously on the couch with his long limbs dangling over the edge.

"Hey Sammy, I would have thought you would have asked Gabriel to come over by now?" Dean inquired as he led Castiel over to the kitchen.

Sam just sighed, "I did, he said he was busy, but he promised he'd be over as soon as possible."

"When was that?"

" Five hours ago." Sam groaned.

Dean wanted to say that he should cheer up because Gabriel would be back soon, but Sam already knew that. Everyone knew the archangel never stayed away for more than a day or two for angelic business. One time Gabriel was supposed to be gone a whole week, but after three days he showed up because he simply just missed Sam.

"Hey Dean," Castiel called as he poked his head out from the kitchen. "Do you know where my coat is?" Dean nearly groaned Oh how he wished he hadn't asked that. Dean understood why he wanted it, the trench coat was almost like a security blanket to the angel. But right now that trench coat was in the panic room, stained with blood and holy oil. He couldn't go down there to get and there was no way in hell he was letting Cas anywhere near that room.

Thank god or whatever deity that didn't hate them Sam stepped in, " Right now it's hanging outside to dry. I washed it for you and got most of the stains out. It should be dry by now if you want me to go and grab it for you."

Castiel smiled at the young Winchester, a sight that Dean was more than happy to see. "Thank you very much Sam for cleaning my coat for me, but I think I will go and get it myself."

Dean found that he really didn't like the idea of Castiel going anywhere alone right now. " Hey, I'll get it for you Cas. You can just stay here." He said as he made his way towards the door.

"Dean, I am not an invalid. I believe I can manage walking outside and grabbing my belongings. Thank you though." The snarky part of Deans brain wanted to respond with, you couldn't even walk downstairs and grab a snack without basically getting kidnapped. But luckily the non-douchebag part knew that that comment would end with a very upset boyfriend and a night on the couch. So he held his tongue. Castiel seemed pleased that Dean didn't argue any further and walked out the door with only a slight limp, but not before lightly kissing Dean on the lips.

Not even thirty seconds had passed before the sound of six magnificent wings filled the room, leaving in its wake one Archangel. " Hey there Sam."Gabriel said with smile that seemed to convey far more than just friendly greeting.

Sam wasted no time going over to his angel and greeting him very intimately. Dean made a point to look away from the lip locked couple. It's not like Dean was disgusted by there relationship, quite the opposite really, he was glad Sam had found someone. It was just seeing your little brother making out wasn't something anyone was comfortable with.

As if Gabriel could read Dean's thoughts, (which he actually could, but it had been forbidden after one very embarrassing incident which no one liked to remember) he stopped kissing Sam for a moment and turned to Dean. " Oh come on Dean-O, we all know that if little Cassie was here you'd be doing the same thing." Gabriel smirked. "Speaking of which, where is he? Castiel's usually glued to your side like the lost puppy he really is." So Sam hadn't told Gabriel what happened. Dean didn't know whether to be relieved or not. He knew that no matter what he did the Archangel was going to as far from calm as they got once he found out what happened to Cas. So to hopefully counteract the angels rage, Dean was going to have to be very gentle about this as to not shock Gabriel. Okay, so he was going to sit him down and . . . Tell an Archangel that his little brother got tortured by his boyfriend's dad.

Oh yeah, he was going to die.

As Dean was trying to come up with a plan to not invoke Gabriel's wrath a slight gasp sounded throughout the room. Looking up, Dean saw that Gabe had detached himself from Sam and was staring at Castiel who had reentered the room, coat in hand.

Honestly at this point Dean's pretty sure Cas just times his entrances to cause this biggest shit storm possible

Gabriel's eyes didn't miss a single bruise or cut; the three broken fingers on his left hand that we're crudely wrapped; the two black eyes; the split lip still bleeding and the bandages that Dean still hadn't rewrapped.

"Dean," The archangel spoke, his voice hard. "Can I speak with you for a moment?" He prepared himself to yet again explain what happened to Castiel, but Dean should have braced himself for an entirely different reason. For as soon as Gabriel finished his question there was a finger on his forehead and suddenly Dean was no longer in Bobby's house. In fact, he wasn't really anywhere at all.

Authors note- Thank you for bearing through a chapter that I myself barely like. And if you're wondering when the next chapter is going to be uploaded it will be very soon, like a week tops. Oh and sorry for how short this chapter is, I just got lazy.


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